No. 19 Penn State women’s volleyball (9-6, 3-2 Big Ten) swept No. 7 Wisconsin (11-2, 4-1 Big Ten) 3-0 at Rec Hall on Friday night in its annual White Out match. This was Penn State’s first upset win of the season.

The Nittany Lions got off to a fast start in front of a packed Rec Hall by winning the first set 25-20. They continued to seize their momentum as they won the second set 25-21, putting the Badgers in a two-set deficit.

Wisconsin held a five-point lead halfway through the third set. However, Penn State, with the help of Rec Hall, overcame this deficit and completed the sweep by winning the third set by nine points as it won its fourth match of the season over a ranked opponent.

How It Happened

The first set got underway with Penn State winning the first point on a kill by Maggie Mendelson. Wisconsin got on the board right after with a kill by Carter Booth. Both teams went back and forth for the next four points as the deadlock stayed intact.

The Nittany Lions started to feed off the White Out environment and went on a 4-0 run to take a 7-3 lead. After an attack error by Caroline Jurevicius ended this run, Penn State continued to show its aggressiveness on attack and went on a 3-0 run to extend its lead to six. This run was highlighted with two service aces by Kennedy Martin and a kill by Jurevicius, leading to a Badgers timeout.

Out of the timeout, both teams traded blows for the next six points as Penn State’s six-point lead stayed intact. After Martin recorded a kill on the next point, Wisconsin responded with a 3-0 run to trim its deficit to four. Martin ended this run with a kill on the next point. Both teams exchanged the next four points before an attack error by Mimi Colyer gave the Nittany Lions an 18-12 lead. This forced Wisconsin to use another timeout.

The Badgers started to show signs of life after the timeout as they won five of the next seven points to decrease their deficit to three. This forced Penn State head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley to use her first timeout in hopes of cooling off Wisconsin’s momentum. This timeout paid huge dividends for the Nittany Lions as they won three of the next four points to get within two points of winning the first set.

KMart from the back row out of the timeout!#WeAre pic.twitter.com/gejKmdn1PX

— Penn State Women’s Volleyball (@PennStateVBALL) October 10, 2025

On the next point, Madison Quest recorded a kill for the Badgers before Martin’s kill gave Penn State five set-point opportunities. Wisconsin saved the first set point on a kill by Colyer, but once again, Martin came through for the Nittany Lions with her kill that allowed the Nittany Lions to win the first set 25-20.

Wisconsin won the first two points of the second set before Penn State won its first point on Mendelson’s kill. Both teams traded points before a 3-0 run by the Nittany Lions gave them an early two-point lead. This run was highlighted with kills by Mendelson and Martin, along with a block assist by Jordan Hopp and Martin. This led to a Badgers timeout.

Penn State extended its run to five after the timeout with back-to-back kills. Both teams exchanged service errors, but Wisconsin started to show its resilience and reduce its deficit to one with a 3-0 run. The Badgers could not tie the set at eight as Una Vajagic’s attack error gave the Nittany Lions some breathing room.

Both teams traded blows for the next four points before back-to-back points by Wisconsin allowed it to tie the set at 11. This forced Penn State to take a timeout. Out of the timeout, the deadlock stayed intact for the next 10 points as neither team managed to pull away. The deadlock stayed intact for two more points, but the Nittany Lions started to pull away as Martin’s kill and Addie Lyon’s service ace gave them a 19-17 lead.

This lead was short-lived as the Badgers took advantage of Penn State’s consecutive errors to tie the set at 19. However, the Nittany Lions, fueled by their White Out environment, regained their two-point lead on back-to-back kills by Martin. This forced Wisconsin to use another timeout. Out of the timeout, both teams exchanged the next four points before Martin’s kill gave Penn State set point. It capitalized on this opportunity on a kill by Jurevicius to win the second set 25-21.

Jurevicius for set point!

2-0#WeAre pic.twitter.com/pbld0pGA35

— Penn State Women’s Volleyball (@PennStateVBALL) October 11, 2025

The Nittany Lions got off to a fast start as they won the first three points of the third set. The Badgers responded by winning three of the next four points to get within one of Penn State’s lead. On the next point, Wisconsin tied it at four on a block assist by Alicia Andrew and Colyer. This gave it momentum as it went on to win four consecutive points to take an 8-4 lead.

After Martin’s kill ended Wisconsin’s run, the Badgers increased their lead to five with back-to-back kills. However, Penn State refused to be deterred as it went on a 5-0 run to tie the set at 10, with the help of a hostile Rec Hall environment. Despite not taking the lead on the next point due to a service error by Martin, the Nittany Lions took the lead at 12-11 thanks to a kill by Martin and a service ace by Jocelyn Nathan, leading to a Wisconsin timeout.

Penn State continued to seize its momentum as it won four of the next five points after the timeout. This gave it a four-point lead heading into a Wisconsin timeout. The Nittany Lions continued to put their foot on the gas after the timeout as they took advantage of three consecutive errors by the Badgers, giving them a 19-12 lead.

Both teams traded kills for the next four points before a kill by Martin got Penn State three points within victory. Wisconsin recorded back-to-back kills to reduce its deficit to six before kills by Mendelson and Martin gave Penn State a match point. It converted on this match point as Grimes’ service ace allowed the Nittany Lions to complete the sweep by winning the third set 25-16.

Grimes ACE for the SWEEP! #WeAre pic.twitter.com/bqh0LyTxX8

— Penn State Women’s Volleyball (@PennStateVBALL) October 11, 2025

Takeaways

• Kennedy Martin, take a bow. She put the Nittany Lions on her back in this upset win by having more than half of the team’s kills. Martin recorded 23 of Penn State’s 44 kills and was very efficient as she had a hitting percentage of .474.
• What a huge win this was for Penn State. After being dominated by Nebraska a week ago and its recent struggles against ranked opponents, it got its biggest win of the season by sweeping Wisconsin, which was the No. 7 team in the country and had only one loss heading into this match.
• While the Nittany Lions dominated all aspects of the match, the factors that proved to be the most important were the hitting percentage and kills. Penn State had a hitting percentage of .296 compared to Wisconsin’s .151. Also, it had 44 kills compared to Wisconsin’s 32.

What’s Next?

Penn State will be back in action at Rec Hall when it takes on Northwestern at 8 p.m. Saturday, October 11. The match will be streamed on BTN+.